Too Hot
by evenstar8705
Summary: Takes place near the end of DS9 episode "When it Rains". Focuses on Kira and Odo, Garak and Rusot. Also there's a quick scene with Kira and Damar.


Kira woke in the middle of the night from a dream. The dream had started out just a memory and turned into a nightmare. She had been back in the caves of Dakhur Hills during the time of the Occupation with the Resistance. She huddled deep in the caverns with Shakaar and the others for warmth. They didn't dare light a fire to hide from Cardassian heat sensors. They all had enormous prices on their heads and would only face death penalties if they were caught. Furthermore, there was still so much fighting to be done to liberate Bajor and all of her colonies. Sometimes her faith in the Prophets wavered and she wondered if the fighting would ever be done.

Their stolen rations had run out days ago and the only water they had was whatever rainfall they could collect. She was dirty, disheveled, and her clothes were in desperate need of repair. Her mouth was severely dry and her lips cracked. She traversed the caves, searching for Lupaza and Furel, the dysfunctional couple that had become like her brother and sister over the years in the cell. She eventually found herself at the mouth of the cave and the rest of her cell was having some sort of meeting there without her. When she got closer, however, she realized that there were lots of people there that shouldn't have been because every single one of them was dead.

Her mother and father were there and so were her two little brothers. Little Pohl was thin and emaciated, having died of malnutrition young. Reon had been killed in the Resistance pretending to be a collaborator, or at least, she hoped he had been pretending. Her beloved Bareil was there, praying with his eyes closed so that he didn't even look at her. There was also Sisica wearing her painted mask to hide her self-induced disfigurement. Lupaza and Furel had been killed in an assassination attempt meant for Kira, and there were so many others. Even Ghemor was there, the Cardassian man that had become an almost father to her and Ziyal, Dukat's daughter that she practically thought of as her own. Jadzia was the most recent and raw death. In fact, now that she thought about it, Shakaar was the only other survivor besides herself in this cave of ghosts.

"Kira," Shakaar called to her.

She tore her eyes away from the gathering of phantoms. They had disappeared by the time she glanced back. Shakaar called to her again and she went back into the caverns.

"What is it? What is going on here?" she demanded.

"Cardassians!" he answered. "Kira, there are Cardassians everywhere!"

When she stirred from sleep, she remembered where she was. She was in a similar cave, but she was on Cardassia Prime, not Bajor. These caves were sweltering hot instead of freezing. It was so hot that she had taken the Starfleet uniform off and was lying with Odo beside her in a minimalist military cot with only a thin blanket stretched over them. If the uniform had actually been real and not a replica Garak had hastily sewn, it might have helped keep her cool. She knew for a fact that Cardassians were everywhere, but they were not supposed to be her enemy anymore.

Odo sensed her move in the dark and snuggled closer to her. She was grateful that he was still there, grateful that he was not yet dead. It was an ironic twist of fate. The Dominion propaganda would have them all believe that Changelings were like gods and that Odo was practically an immortal being. She was the fragile, short-lived solid. He had been worried for her life all this time and never imagined that he would ever be the one growing ill and dying. She had hoped that Odo would be the one person in her life that she could never lose to death like everybody else. They had both heard Bashir's prognosis though. Odo could deny it, but she knew the Prophets were snatching away the blessing of their love almost as soon as they had given it.

 _I had hoped to spend a long, happy life together, but I suppose I will have to settle with short and exciting._ Odo had said that to her once, but he had not been serious. Suddenly what he said did not seem quite so humorous anymore. She made an angry fist and silently prayed begging the Prophets for more time so that maybe Bashir could find a cure before it was too late. It was so unfair! She wasn't sure she could handle yet another death and not the death of one that she loved so much!

She took a shallow breath, trying not to cry. Odo noted her agitation.

"Nerys, are you alright?" he whispered with concern.

"Am I alright? Am _I_ alright?" she said dumbly.

"It's too hot in here. Let me fetch you some water."

"No! No, I will get it myself!"

She rose, wrapping the blanket about her body, and was gone longer than he expected. He felt her absence like he never had before. He guessed she needed to relieve herself. The truth was that she needed to keen her grief without him witnessing. She had to go some distance to get out of Odo's range. He could sense her vibrations and even feel her emotions from a distance. That distance varied. She found a supply cache further in the Caves and sat down among crates of ammunition and finally let the tears start to flow. She stilled them when she heard footsteps.

"Is someone there?" it was Damar.

"It's Commander Kira," she said sharply, hoping the Cardassian would go away.

"Commander, what are you doing in there?"

He drew close, too close. Kira clutched the blanket about her body so tightly she almost ripped the flimsy fabric. It was hard-wired instinct imprinted into her because she had been an attractive young Bajoran girl during the Occupation perpetually surrounded by leering Cardassian soldiers. She knew it was irrational now. Damar was not Dukat. This would have been a dream come true for Dukat! Finding Kira alone and practically naked and unarmed on his native Cardassia Prime? Even though she seemed vulnerable, and Damar might have the advantage because Cardassians could see decently in the dark, she didn't need a weapon to murder one Cardassian. She knew close quarters combat and the weak points of her enemies.

She relaxed a little. There was no attraction between Damar and Kira. Damar was the one Cardassian officer that had not been giving her murderous vibes. That had surprised her since Damar had been the one she was most worried about before she arrived. He had been a young viper groomed by Dukat and the murderer of Ziyal. She had bloodied and bruised and humiliated Damar! She expected him to be the one pissing her constantly off. No, that honor definitely belonged to Gul Rusot. Instead, Damar had been remote, not hateful. He had even shown her some semblance of growing respect over the past few weeks. She hadn't seen him consume a single drop of _kanar_ either. He must have kicked his alcoholism habit after the events of the Dominion on the station. If he wanted to harm her, he could have before. He had the perfect opportunity to try now, but he didn't come any closer to her.

If Kira had more advanced eyes, she would have seen the surprise and genuine concern in Damar's face. He knew he should hate her. She was a Bajoran terrorist, an official enemy of Cardassia only a few short years ago. His men called her a war criminal and murderer when she was not in the room. The moment she had arrived, she had barked orders and forgave nothing. She was harder on his men than he was. She seemed angry and unfeeling. He thought to himself the first day: Maybe if she just tried being decent to them instead of overbearing and petty, my men wouldn't chaff so much at her orders. He realized by the end of the week that was wrong and Kira had started off with the only approach she could have. If his men sensed weakness in her, they would have mutinied by now. She had to overcompensate with bravado. She had to curse and project her voice. Her performance had been masterful. The men feared her too much for open rebellion.

Now he had a glimpse of the real Kira. He saw the tears on her cheeks, the way she clutched at the blanket, the way her lip quivered for a moment. He didn't fail to notice that it was the only thing covering her skin. Those fake Starfleet uniforms that she and Odo wore didn't fool him. Her skin glistened with sweat and her movements were sluggish. He was no doctor, but he recognized the signs of heat exhaustion. She was only a woman after all. She was fragile and she had her limits. He offered her water rations from his own belt.

"Don't be proud. Take it," he pleaded.

"Thank you."

"Ah, so you can be polite."

She glared at him as she drank. Did he want a medal for that small gesture? He was starting to make her think of Dukat again. Damar decided not to mention the tears he had seen.

"Was there something that my men said that upset you?" he asked.

She let out a bitter laugh, "I have heard so much worse from Cardassians."

"Well, what are you doing in here then?"

"I was looking for a cooling unit," she lied, though having thought of it, she wanted one badly now. "It is too hot and the heat is not good for-for Changelings."

She had almost said it wasn't good for Odo's illness but caught herself in time. If Odo didn't even want her to know about his condition, he certainly didn't want anyone else to know. She knew it was true, though, the heat was probably much worse for him. When he was perfectly healthy, he had never cared for extreme heat. He was a liquid being in his natural state. She suspected too much heat might make him evaporate. It certainly didn't help him to keep his shape.

"Don't you already have a cooling unit in your area?" Damar said with exaggerated annoyance.

"It broke down three days ago. I asked for a replacement. Obviously it is not a priority to your men."

"I apologize for their behavior," Damar's voice was so soft it made Kira knit her eyebrows. "I really do."

They remained in awkward silence for a moment.

"I imagine there is no cooling unit in here then?" she said.

"No. It's all ammunition."

She cursed in Bajoran and Damar couldn't help but smile. Kira rose to return to Odo. She had been away too long. He must be getting worried.

"Kira," Damar made her pause. "I am sorry about Ziyal."

At that, she jerked her head toward him and her nostrils flared. He couldn't look her in the eye.

"You should be!" Kira hissed. "That girl was innocent! She was a child! She was-she was..."

"She was an utter fool. But I was even more so. I killed her, and there is not a single night that goes by where I don't see her startled face in my sleep. She didn't know what she was doing. She never did because she was never a Cardassian. But that was not her fault."

"It wasn't because she was a hybrid! She would have been a peace-maker! She was an artist! She was a baby! All she ever wanted was for both our planets and our races to heal and become allies someday, which is exactly what we are attempting to do now to destroy the Dominion!"

 _She wanted me to marry Dukat and become her mother for real_.

"You are right," Damar pierced her with his eyes so that even in the dark, she felt them. "And who knows what will happen after that?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, won't we, Damar? You know, honestly, if you hadn't killed Ziyal, Dukat probably would have!"

"No he wouldn't have. He loved that girl. That's why he snapped and became a deranged psychopath. That's why he-"

Now it was Damar that had to stop himself from saying anything further. Kira laughed again.

"You still sing his praises and defend him even now! Just when I was starting to think you had a brain of your own!"

"No. On the contrary, I'm beginning to hate that man. He sold out our planet to the Dominion!"

"That makes two of us!"

"Yes, Kira. We have common enemies. Common goals. If I ever catch up with Dukat again, I will drag him to Cardassia for war crimes against both of our planets!"

He couldn't believe it, but he saw admiration in her face and she smiled a genuine smile, "Thanks again for the water."

"Stay cool, Commander."

When Kira returned to Odo, she held him, but she did not look at him or tell him about her conversation with Damar. She saw no pressing need to do so now. She would tell him after breakfast and debriefing. She pretended to fall back to sleep while Odo mapped her face with his hands, trying to memorize every line and curve. After some time passed, though, he began to feel a stirring inside of him.

"Nerys?" he called softly.

"Hm?"

"Are you asleep?"

"What is it, Odo?"

She turned to him, worried. She wondered if he was in pain. The horrible thought that tonight would be the night he died flashed in her mind. But he was looking at her with hot desire. He pressed himself into her, needy. One of his hands moved down her body, lower and lower. She moaned at his sensual touches. She longed for this as much as he did, but he was ill. They probably shouldn't indulge.

"Odo?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

"It has been a while," his voice was husky.

"The doctor-"

"Has no idea what he is talking about!" Odo insisted. "He is no expert on Changeling anatomy and diseases! No one outside of the Gamma Quadrant is! Obviously not even my people know what this disease is because it is killing them! I know how I feel and I know myself. I have not shown any signs or symptoms yet. Bashir said my deterioration would be rapid, but he has been proven wrong in the past. Think no more on the matter, please!"

She wanted to believe him as badly as she wanted him. Who knew if it was their last chance to make love? In fact, he had the same thought. He had been feeling weaker and she sensed it. It was getting harder to hold his shape. She knew in her heart that he was lying about his health. He had not shown any visible symptoms because he was a shifter. He could hide his condition at the expense of himself. Bashir had said changing his shape would only exacerbate the disease, but Odo was proud. He knew Kira was under enormous pressure. He knew what she had lost. He did not want to contribute to her pain. He wanted to be a salve to her wounds and not salt within them.

Odo also remembered the experiences his Gaia counterpart had given him. Two centuries of existence without Kira Nerys in his life and the painful memory of losing her when she died of an illness in the Gaia timeline. It had been in his mind as Kira had her nightmare, the image of her on her deathbed. That was a real memory though. He remembered Gaia Odo had barely held himself together in the moment and afterward. He heard Kira breathe her last breath and without knowing the truth: That Odo loved her. He only understood how much he loved her once she was gone. In the two centuries after her death, Gaia Odo still had dreams of her. He had tried to find a mate amongst the colonists of Gaia. None of them could compare to Nerys. None of them made him feel the same way she had.

Odo had been so mystified when Gaia Odo came to the _Defiant_. At first, he was worried that it was another Changeling. With his people, he could never know. He was ready to defend himself in case it was. He was supposed to be human and to remain a human until he died as punishment for murdering one of his own. It never mattered to his people how good his reasoning had been. No Changeling had ever harmed another before and they had never believed his threats that he would be the first if they continued to try to harm his friends. They had wanted to make a great example of him and were seething because Odo had rejected them again and again. The very idea of having to earn the trust of one of their own was insulting to them. What if the Founders wanted him dead now that he had regained his Changeling body? What if they had come to take him home by force?

Gaia Odo had been in a terrible hurry and in such an emotional state, it disturbed them both. He reached out his hand and began linking with his counterpart immediately. All of his thoughts, memories, and experiences flooded through Odo so quickly and so fiercely that he was rattled to his liquid core. Odo had the knowledge from the other to resist the planet's odd barrier and take shape at last. The entire time, he had been trapped in a consistency like soup in a cryo container in the _Defiant's_ med-bay. Until the other Odo linked with him, he had no idea what had been going on.

Changelings could not cry like humanoids, but if they could have, both Odos would have been crying out great wracking sobs. Instead, Odo trembled and his breaths came out as shaking and strangled gasps. Odo saw what he had done, the sacrifice he had made, the terrible consequences of changing the _Defiant's_ flight plan. Eight thousand lives gone. An entire colony of souls vanished. Well, it had been a no win situation. They might be sacrificing eight billion lives by not changing the time line, not just the life of the woman they loved.

"You are not going to stop me?" Gaia Odo had said. "Or change the flight plans back? I don't care if I disappear and everyone on Gaia does too. We can't let her die! You have to return to the station and avoid this timeline! You have to!"

Odo shook his head that he wouldn't interfere and whispered, "Nerys…"

"Don't lose her!" Gaia Odo's voice was hoarse and he began to lose his shape and disappear before his eyes. "She's precious! She's so precious and irreplaceable! Tell her you love her, Odo! Don't stay silent like I did. She knows already anyway, thanks to me. She kissed me! She said _maybe_ Odo! She said _maybe_! Don't take her for granted like I did! Don't you ever take her for granted! Don't let her go!"

"I know. I know."

Gaia Odo was gone. He had made his choice. Odo stared at the spot where his counterpart had congealed last. Part of him screamed that he should change the flight plans again. Kira had already accepted she was supposed to die on principle. Her principles mattered to her more than anything else, even love. Odo used to feel the same, but after linking with Gaia Odo… He still felt the sensation of Kira's lips on his own, a feeling he never thought he would ever be lucky enough to feel. Sooner or later, she would find out what Gaia Odo had done and that he, her Odo, had done nothing to stop him. They were both implicated in a twisted time crime. Gaia Odo might have just guaranteed that neither of them would ever win her heart. He even went to the control panel but couldn't bring himself to touch it.

"I can't live without her," he said to himself at last and walked away from the panel and the computers. "Even if she hates me."

He snapped back to the present time. He looked at his love. It had taken her time, but she had eventually forgiven him, just as he had forgiven her in the past. She had done nothing quite like Odo had, but their love had come out so much stronger after all that had happened. The Occupation, the Gaia incident, the Dominion War. He was determined that this disease would not rob him of her any more than anything else had. They had so much time to make up for and so little time left to do so.

"The Cardassians may hear us," she reminded him, trying to think of some reason other than the obvious. "Garak is above us!"

"Garak is asleep. He has been snoring for over an hour now. Why should the idea of the other Cardassians hearing stop us?"

She sighed as she explained, "They will get perverse pleasure if they suspect what we are doing. I will lose whatever respect or fear they might have had for me within an instant. They don't hate me only because I'm a Bajoran that was a member of several organizations that defeated them, first the Resistance and then the Militia. No. They resent me because I am also a woman."

"Why does your gender factor in?" Odo was sincere with his question.

"Odo, Cardassian women never serve openly in their army. Ask Garak. Only the Obsidian Order allowed females in their ranks and that was rare. Here I am, a woman of high rank, and I have the guts to order these proud Cardassian soldiers around! I have served almost twenty years, but they won't believe I did anything more than clean weapons and run errands. There are still some insecure Bajoran men that chaffed obeying my orders before. These are Cardassians, and to them, Bajoran women were only ever seen as sex objects. If they hear me moaning like some bed warmer-"

"You shouldn't deny yourself because of them! Then you really are allowing them to take your power away from you!"

"But-"

He gave her a liquid kiss that filled her mouth, but she pried herself away from his grasp. The way he kept interrupting her was getting on her nerves as well. He reached for her, his eyes pleading.

"You do remember that as a Changeling, I can feel you without physically touching you, right? I don't mean to be boorish, but since we came to Cardassia Prime, we have been together the entire time without making love. It's becoming more than a little distracting. It is becoming a constant torment."

"Alright!" she flung her hands up in the air in surrender. "But you have to promise me that you won't do any more shape shifting. No tricks. Not even the liquid kiss. Got it? I don't want to risk losing you sooner than I have to."

"I promise. No unnecessary shifting. I just need you, Nerys. I need to touch you. I need you to tell me that you love me. It's all the medicine that I have available to me at the moment. I am not dying yet. Let me prove it to you."

She hesitated and then abandoned all reservations. She slipped back into the cot with him. He had a surprise for her. He had acquired a refrigerated compress. He had no sense of smell, but it was scented with something. Lilac or lavender, he would have to ask Kira later what it was. He pressed it to her brow and she sighed with relief. He knew she may be too hot for any kind of passionate activity, but this would help enormously. The soothing scent did wonders for the constant dull headache she suffered from the heat. He began to massage the rest of her skin. Normally, he would massage her himself, allowing his hands to become liquid. She seemed to love it, but he had promised not to shape shift. The compress was cold, his form was warm no matter what state he was in. She began to shiver as he cycled from massaging her skin with the cool compress to touching it with his warm fingers, nails, lips and teeth. Her internal temperature was soaring. He knew exactly what tool to use and when and where. Every inch of her skin broke out into goosebumps and with a shock of delight at the rich contrasts of sensation.

After what seemed like ages of this wonderful foreplay, Odo's lips found hers. She let her passion take over. He didn't hold back either. Without shifting, he could express himself more than adequately. Soon they were entangled within one another, breathing heavy, vying for dominance. They each wanted to prove which one needed the other more and they were both winning. They were able to forget for a blissful moment that he was even ill. The Changeling equivalent of endorphins and adrenaline, nature's natural medicine, kicked in and Odo had never felt more alive. If Garak heard, he made no sign above them in his own cot.

"I love you, Nerys!" Odo said it repeatedly as he touched her like he would never get enough.

"I love you, Odo! I love you so much! Ah!"

Despite her best efforts to keep quiet, Kira cried out involuntarily when Odo began to thrust deep. She clamped a hand over her mouth. That action seemed to drive Odo mad with lust. He pinned her down, seized both her wrists in one powerful hand, and he covered her mouth with his other for her as he plunged into her again and again, desperate with need. He found her muffled cries strangely erotic.

Just as they were both about to spill over, they heard footsteps and a Cardassian entered without any sort of warning. He flashed a light over them, exposing them. They froze in alarm and embarrassment. Kira wished she was a Changeling, that she could retreat and hide within the cave wall or become a blanket. If she were a Changeling, though, she would be sick and dying along with her lover. Odo's first instinct was to shift, but he remembered his promise and, now that he was jerked from the sensation of Kira, felt too weak. Instead, he shielded Kira with his body and the thin cot blanket as much as he could from the cold, prying eyes of the intruder. He glared with hatred as Kira hid her face.

"Commander Kira and Constable Odo," it was Gul Rusot's voice, the last one that they wanted to hear. "Another bombing run has taken place successfully. Your presence is required to review the footage and plan the next attack."

"We will be there!" Odo snapped. "Aren't you supposed to knock or something before barging into separate parts of the cave?"

"He could have simply used the com," Garak spoke above them.

Kira and Odo turned their eyes up above them sharply, staring daggers into the cot and at Garak.

"We'll give you about fifteen minutes to finish your little excursions," Rusot's voice was full of derision and mockery.

With that, the Gul left, sneering. Kira punched the bottom of Garak's cot, making him nearly leap like a lizard.

"How long were you awake, Garak?"

"I would like to know that as well," Odo growled.

"Oh, please, don't mind me," he began to creep away.

Seeing Odo angry was bad. Seeing Kira Nerys angry was worse. When the couple fixated their wrath together upon an object, it was a truly terrifying thing. He could feel their animosity and was afraid they would chase after him. Few things scared Elim Garak.

"Rusot flashed that light in my eyes too and woke me. He didn't mention my name, but they will need me there as well. I will see you in a few moments."

He followed after the other Cardassian sheepishly. He felt very fortunate that neither of the couple was interested in chasing him down.

"I am sorry, Nerys. You tried to warn me-"

" _Don't_!"

Odo stared at the floor as she began counting, reigning in her temper. They should have realized Garak was feigning sleep. He probably just couldn't help himself. It was too much in his nature. A former Obsidian spy and assassin knew that such an opportunity couldn't be missed. His best information must come from scenes like he just witnessed. They were fools not to make him get up and leave or leave themselves.

"Well," Kira smiled at Odo flirtatiously after a moment. "They are giving us fifteen minutes, but I say we make them wait and take all the time that we damn well please!"

He couldn't help but smile back, "I've always loved your feistiness!"

Garak felt a little ashamed as he walked through the Caves. Yes, he had been awake the whole time, but how could he interrupt two lovers? Their environment did not allow for much privacy, and he didn't want to be rude like that idiot Rusot. He found it hard to sleep too. He had his own ugly memories, dreams, and personal grudges. Kira understood that more than most. They were working with Damar, the man that had killed his poor, sweet Ziyal. There would be no pleasant converstions between those two Cardassians. Unlike Kira and Odo, Garak did not forgive and he forgot nothing. When the couple began going at it, he couldn't help but think of Ziyal and miss her terribly. He was incredibly touched by all that he had heard between them before as well. He had a deep respect for the Constable and the Commander and part of him, more than part, envied what they had.

 _My Ziyal was too young and innocent for me. I did not deserve even a single tender moment that she gave me. If she had seen the real me like Kira sees Odo and vice-versa, she would have hated me. Odo is no monster. You do not need to shift to be a monster. I am the real monster in disguise._

He heard the other Cardassians snickering and muttering as soon as he arrived, and he had no doubt that Rusot had told them exactly what he had just seen. They were all eating, so he grabbed a bowl, shook his head and joined them silently, sporting his usual unreadable smile. He had to know what they were saying.

"So the Changeling and the Commander were rutting?" one of the junior officers was guffawing. "What form does the Bajoran bitch prefer that her lover take?"

"Shockingly, he wasn't in any other shape than the one he always shows us."

"Disappointing. And did you get a look at her?"

"No. Not that I would want to."

"That's a lie!" Garak blurted out.

The rest of them realized he was there now. They looked at him suspiciously. He was a Cardassian like them, but he had arrived with Kira and Odo. Sometimes he acted like their friend, sometimes he didn't. It was hard to tell whose side he was on.

"What do you mean? You calling me a liar?" Rusot said.

"I am saying that you are lying about one tiny thing. Of course you wanted to see what the Commander looked like naked. You had a dozen Bajoran comfort women during the Occupation. You have never married or so much as looked at a Cardassian woman. Who can blame you? The Commander is quite beautiful, isn't she?"

"How the hell do you know that?" Rusot grew nervous.

"My dear Gul, it only takes a few seconds in a computer to learn basic facts about any person. I have a tailor's gift of simply being able to read the threads!"

"How can you defend that woman?"

"Because I respect her. So should you. She is putting her life on the line for our people. She is working for us instead of against us. Isn't Cardassia all that matters?"

"Of course."

"I want you to remember that!"

"You know, there's something I've wanted to ask about Constable Odo," Rusot said.

"Oh?"

"Yes. There was an incident on Terrok Nor-"

"You mean DS9," Garak interrupted.

"Whatever. It was still Terrok Nor at the time. Odo served under Dukat. He allowed Bajoran prisoners to be executed knowing that they were innocent. If that is true, it means that Odo didn't do his job. That creature prides himself on being a sterling example of law, order, and justice. Shouldn't he have resigned with shame? If he cares so much about the Bajorans, shouldn't he have protested or something? It just seems like Commander Kira is being a bit of a hypocrite. She hates us. That is plain. She has also slain her own people because they were Collaborators. Shouldn't she despise the Constable?"

Garak could see immediately Rusot's line of thinking and almost admired him for it. It was a stroke of brilliance he never would have thought possible in such a lizard-brain. He realized that Garak had called him out and that it was unwise to go on insulting and humiliating Kira herself. Now he was switching targets with the same goal still in mind.

"I do not know," Garak said simply.

"Well maybe you should ask."

They all went silent when Odo and Kira arrived. Odo was gripping his left arm tightly, Garak noted, but other than that, he acted completely comfortable and natural. Behind his eyes, though, Odo was actually hiding physical and emotional pain. _That probably was our last time_ , he thought sadly to himself as he glanced at Kira. The euphoria of their exchange was fading and it was taking considerable effort not to show visible symptoms of his illness. Kira avoided eye-contact with anyone and fetched breakfast from one of the replicators the Federation had generously donated to the Cardassian Resistance. It was a bowl of a tofu-like substance. She was not even hungry and picked at the meal.

"They sure took their time," Rusot complained under his breath. "I told them to take fifteen minutes. More than double that time has passed!"

"They were being polite," Garak's voice was full of mirth and a little pride for his friend. "Changelings can go for _hours_!"

The other Cardassians exchanged looks of surprise, envy, admiration, and disbelief.

"How's the food?" Odo asked, trying to distract her.

"Replicated," she answered.

"Well, are you going to ask him or not?" Rusot asked Garak openly so that Odo and Kira heard and were drawn in.

"I wouldn't recommend it!" Garak responded.

"It's a legitimate question, Garak."

Kira's face didn't seem to change much, but there was pure irritation in her body language. Odo put a hand to his brow. Whatever Rusot wanted to ask, it couldn't be good. The couple was still reeling from being interrupted in a private moment.

"Maybe, I just don't think it's a subject appropriate for discussion. Not if we are all supposed to be getting along."

"Well, if you won't ask him, I will!" Rusot announced.

He set aside his food and approached Odo with far too much glee. Garak resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Odo. When you were head of security on Terrok Nor, what did you think was going to happen to the Bajoran prisoners that you arrested?"

To his credit, Odo appeared to want to answer honestly and didn't seem nearly as angered by the question as Kira. She turned to him.

"You don't have to answer that."

"Why not?" asked the junior officer, goading Rusot on. "It's a legitimate question."

"If you want to provoke an argument," Kira said, taking a bite.

"Just as I said!" Garak glared at the officer's back.

Odo sighed and still tried to answer the question anyway, "I expected that the prisoners would be dealt with justly but I soon came to realize that Cardassians have little interest in justice."

Kira couldn't help but smile at Odo with pride, though he seemed to struggle answering at first.

"Ah," Rusot didn't seem the least bit impressed. "Well then, why didn't you resign in protest?"

Kira had been stabbing at her food and snapped when he said that. She couldn't help herself. She saw now, like Garak, what the man was doing. She could have taken anything but this. She had expected Rusot to start taunting them, to make juvenile and perverse jabs. She knew how much the deaths of those prisoners haunted Odo. It had been the only stain on his record as a security officer, a job he took so seriously. Odo was sick! He was in no state to defend himself. No, he shouldn't have to justify himself! Not to these spoon-heads that had committed atrocities against her people for over sixty years without a single qualm of guilt! They would have worked all the men of Bajor and half the women to death if they had been allowed more time. They would have let all the children of Bajor starve, keeping only the most beautiful Bajoran girls alive so that they could fill Bajor with half-breeds. Within the next generation, any children born to Bajor would only be a quarter Bajoran.

She slammed her bowl onto the ground and launched herself directly in front of Rusot, "What are you getting at?!"

"Nerys!" Odo spoke her name with a note of warning in it. "Don't!"

"I believe you struck a nerve!" the junior officer joined in. "Apparently Commander Kira doesn't like to be reminded that her lover collaborated with her enemies!"

"Odo wasn't a Collaborator!"

"I suppose that depends upon your definition of the word Collaborator," Rusot spat.

Kira almost attacked him, but Odo stopped her, saying, "Nerys, don't, it isn't worth it!"

"Odo is right, Commander," Garak had kept his place away from the thick of things.

Kira stood her ground and continued to glare at Rusot for a tense moment longer, but she said softly, "I guess we have a difference of opinion."

She licked her lips and walked away with whatever was left of her dignity. Odo followed close behind, but he gave Rusot a glance in passing that promised violence if he ever tried such a thing again. Garak couldn't help but find the whole thing incredibly amusing.

"You don't know how lucky you are!" he told Rusot.

"Oh, why?"

"She would have killed you!" Garak was grinning.

Rusot scoffed, "I only wish she had tried."

He looked toward his friends with a smile, showing off. Garak's smile didn't fade though. He wanted to tell the dimwit that Kira had been killing Cardassians better than Rusot from the time she was twelve years old. He had no idea how close he had come to swiping with death if Odo hadn't stopped her because Garak wouldn't have protected him. He was relieved that Kira had controlled her temper. She had come a long way from screaming at government heads when she didn't get her way. He was proud of her.

Meanwhile, Kira was wrecking things in what passed for their quarters, kicking and knocking over anything in her path to vent her rage. Odo was amazingly calm and let her get it out of her system.

"Well I'm glad we are in agreement," he said with a touch of sarcasm.

"You want to knock over some supplies, be my guest!" she paced.

"You did the right thing, Nerys. The Dominion is our enemy, not Rusot."

"I don't need you to remind me of that!" she shouted as she pointed at him.

Odo cast his eyes down and Kira sighed. What was she doing? She was actually lashing out at the man she loved. Rusot had won that petty battle. She was painfully aware how short her temper was and she remembered that Odo was sick. He didn't need this. He should be the one that was short and impatient. Here he was, keeping up pretenses and stopping her from ruining everything as usual. How many times had he tolerated her outbursts and irrational decisions?

"I'm sorry," she almost sobbed the words and had to take a deep breath. "I'm sorry. It's just I'm, um. It's just so hot in here."

Odo accepted her apology and lame excuse without question and without a word, "Cardassians sure do love the heat."

"Well, I don't. I am going to try to find another cooling unit."

"I will come with you."

"It's alright," she smiled at him. "I promise I won't kill anyone on the way."

"I will hold you to that."

He smiled warmly back at her as she walked off. She didn't believe it, but when she went back to the cache she had hidden in just a few hours ago, she found a cooling unit waiting for her. She brought the unit back to Odo, feeling grateful and hopeful for once. She had wanted this more for her beloved Changeling than for herself. Damar must have set it aside for them. Maybe they finally had made a real ally here.


End file.
